


Fade Out

by visionshadows



Series: The Life and Times of Duck McDonald [6]
Category: Wilby Wonderful (2004)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-10
Updated: 2013-03-10
Packaged: 2017-12-04 21:07:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/715110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/visionshadows/pseuds/visionshadows
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The last part of The Life and Times of Duck McDonald series.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fade Out

It's awkward, just a little, the first time Emily visits Duck's house after Dan moves in. She visits Duck a lot when her mom is busy at Iggy's and Emily needs a break from being home alone and her schoolwork. Duck is easy to spend time with. He doesn't ask a lot of questions and tends to relate to her by teaching her how to change a tire or fix a leaky faucet. He says those are important things for everyone to know, especially an independent girl like herself. Emily just humors him and watches his hands as he slips tiny o-rings onto faucet stems.

He listens to her though, to every little thing she complains about and wonders about. Sometimes he answers and when he does, Emily always finds herself falling quiet and thinking for a long time about what he says.

But when Dan moves in, and Emily realizes that Duck's not just around for her, it gets weird. On her mother's insistence, she goes over the day after Dan moves in (give them time to settle in, Sandra had said) with a pound of freshly ground coffee and a pumpkin pie. It takes her five minutes to knock on the door even though she usually just walks inside. But it's not just where Duck lives anymore. Dan lives there too and Dan's still a stranger to her in many ways.

The three of them drink coffee on Duck's back porch, Duck and Dan sitting in two chairs while Emily sits on the swing by herself. The conversation is boring, mostly about Emily's school and the house Duck is painting over on Mercer Street. Dan doesn’t really say much at all, but he listens just as well as Duck does.

Emily sips her coffee and looks at the tree in Duck's backyard, the one that he still climbs when he needs to get away. Once, when she had come over looking for an escape of her own, he had been in the tree. She had climbed up with him and sat there, not saying anything for two hours before they climbed down and had a cup of tea. Duck showed her how to replace a plug on one of his lamps in the living room that night and Emily felt really bad when she left him alone, sitting on the couch next to the fixed lamp, smoking a cigarette and staring at the old photo on the wall.

Duck lights a cigarette, cupping his hand over the flame. He leans back against his chair, his foot just touching Dan's. Emily can see Dan relax, his shoulders drooping a little as he smiles over his coffee, looking at Duck.

Emily smiles into her coffee and decides that it might be a little awkward for awhile, but it's still Duck's house and he'll still show her how to fix stuff and listen to her complain. Only now, when she leaves and goes home to her mom, Duck won't be alone anymore.


End file.
